At this moment, everyone at St. Mary's Stadium held their breath, their eyes following the whistling ball through the air.

Goalkeeper David Marshall, who was standing in the penalty area with his hands on his hips, looked up and saw the football coming. After a pause, he turned around and chased the ball towards his own goal! He chased the ball while looking at the sky! He looked at the sky while predicting where the ball would land! He predicted where the ball would land and prayed: ... Impossible, impossible, absolutely impossible!

Judging from the flight trajectory of the football, the angle of the ball is a bit high and it should fly over the crossbar.

But the next second, everyone's heart almost jumped out of their throat! The football suddenly dropped from the penalty area! It was as if a hand of God slapped the air! The football fell straight down like an elevator!

It looks like the Milky Way falling from the sky! This lob shot is so weird!

David Marshall leaped into the air in panic, with his hands stretched out, trying to catch the long-range shot on the goal line!

But... just half a beat!

Fairy from the sky————————

The football hit the goal line, bounced off the ground and hit the net!

David Marshall missed the ball, his body couldn't stop, and he crashed into the net!

A classic scene! One and a half minutes into the game! Gu Ran lobbed the ball into the goal! David Marshall knocked himself into the goal!

"yeah--------"

The Southampton fans at the scene immediately cheered in disbelief! The head coach Adkins on the sidelines also widened his eyes in disbelief, unable to believe this dream start!

You know, no matter from which angle you analyze this game, Southampton's current overall strength is weaker than Cardiff City!

And it was Cardiff City's "Little Henry" Jay who just broke through with the ball! Southampton's defense had been torn open by Cardiff City's short passes, and it seemed that they were about to lose the ball at the beginning of the game.

Who would have thought that Gu Ran not only intercepted Jay's fatal cut in with a 1v1 attack, but also violently and aesthetically dribbled the ball and sprinted across half the court!

What was even more unexpected was that Gu Ran had just crossed the half court and without even moving forward, he directly made a magical lob shot!

And, it actually went in like this!!!

Yes! It was so gorgeous and simple! After a moment of hesitation, the referee blew the whistle to signal that the goal was valid! The score on the big screen changed to Southampton 1: Cardiff City!

The entire St. Mary's Stadium was boiling with excitement! In the last game, Southampton used the "Tian Ji Horse Racing" tactic and lost the game and lost the top spot in the English League One standings, which made the fans feel unhappy. But at the beginning of this game, Gu Ran directly opened the game with a king bomb! It ignited the emotions of all the Saints! This kick was so cool! So exciting! So inspiring!

A simple kick brings an incomparable feeling!

All the Southampton fans were jumping and dancing in the stands, waving their team flags and singing Gu Ran’s song!

The Cardiff City Bluebirds fans were stunned at this moment.

What is this?

Southampton scored so easily? What were the Cardiff City players doing on the field?

Cardiff City's head coach Dave Jones also frowned with a depressed look on his face at this moment.

I wanted to show off at my ex-husband's house and win a small victory over Southampton, but Gu Ran went crazy right from the start...

The key is not the problem of conceding a goal at the very beginning. If the goal was scored by Gu Ranmeng, it would be fine. With the overall strength of Cardiff City, coach Dav Jones is still confident that he can equalize the score and then overtake.

However, from the professional perspective of the head coach, this ball does not look like a lucky shot at all!

There is an element of luck, but it is definitely not purely luck! The timing, angle, strength, speed, and even the arc of the kick are all precisely calculated.

And if this kick was not a fluke, then the problem is not just about scoring a goal, but also involves a tactical problem! Gu Ran seemed to have seen through his tactical routine right from the start, and found a way to deal with it right from the start...

This is the most terrifying place!

How the hell do I kick this?

Coach Dave Jones felt a little stuffy in his heart.

In the scouting area, three scouts from wealthy clubs were shaking with excitement—they hadn’t had such a good time in 10 days!

Chelsea's Emenalo held up his glasses and trembled, "Oh my God! We haven't seen Gu Ran for just one game, and he seems to have become visibly stronger! This shot is amazing! He didn't stop during the violent sprint, and he made a powerful lob shot in the half, and he even scored a goal!"

Edwards of Liverpool said excitedly: "You are worthy of being my fellow countryman from Southampton! This goal will definitely be selected for this year's Puskas Award! If this goal is not selected, I will twist my head off and let you guys kick it like a ball!"

Manchester City's Pratt also praised: "What a steal! Gu Ran's kick is already at the level of the Champions League! It's amazing! Without mentioning the emotional factors, just analyzing it from the perspective of a pure football match, this kick is not only amazing in terms of timing, strength, and accuracy, but Gu Ran's football IQ is also unparalleled in the world! Coach Dave Jones' tactics are actually very reasonable, but Dave Jones made a mistake in that he did not let the defensive players push forward to put pressure on Gu Ran in the half, but instead withdrew all the troops to the penalty area to build a defensive line."

"That's right! That's right!" Emenalo said, "Great minds think alike! Coach Dave Jones may have seen Gu Ran's game highlights, but this is the first time he's been slapped in the face by Gu Ran! He doesn't even know that an opponent like Gu Ran must be double-teamed throughout the court. If Gu Ran is allowed to dribble the ball forward easily, Gu Ran's long-range shooting range will be unleashed! It would be strange if Cardiff City doesn't blow him up!"

Edwards also nodded vigorously and said, "I agree with you two gentlemen!"

Pratt said excitedly: "The summer transfer window is almost over, Gu Ran, it has to be our Manchester City!"

Emenalo sneered, "Oh, Manchester City? Impossible, Gu Ran was targeted by us at Chelsea first."

Edwards said bluntly: "I'm sorry, colleagues, let me put this here, Gu Ran must be from us Liverpool!"

The three scouts blushed in the blink of an eye.

In the live broadcast room, the barrage was bombarded crazily:

"What the hell! What the hell!"

"It's really worth it for me to watch the game in the early morning! Gu Ran got me excited just one minute after the game started!"

"I wish I could pull my wife up and hand in the homework again!"

"Gu Ran is so awesome! This ball is simply like a fairy from the sky, a divine ball!"

"Compared to Qi Xuanzong's flying fairy kick, this kick is not as elegant as Qi Xuanzong's, nor is it a half-turn volley, but the power is really strong and the distance is far enough. It is really enjoyable to watch!"

"I was so excited! I haven't seen such a wonderful goal in a long time!"

"This ball is a bit like Fatty Lu's Flying Fairy from the Sky!"

"Yes, yes, I think they are similar!"

"Gu Ran is so fast! He came before he even touched my body!"

"Brother, what are you talking about? I don't understand!"

"Let me tell you, all of Gu Ran's fans are fucking haters."

"I think this kick had a lot to do with luck, right?"

"There is definitely an element of luck, but the key is that no one stepped forward to put pressure on Gu Ran! Cardiff City's tactics were originally very correct, but Gu Ran went so far as to make it work. I'm afraid the head coach of Cardiff City is going crazy now! Cardiff City's carefully prepared tactics are now in chaos! If they don't adjust their tactics quickly, just wait and see, Gu Ran will definitely fire all kinds of long-range shots next!"

"Fuck! Gu Ran is really brave! He made a lob shot in the first half! If it was a domestic player, let alone whether he had the basic skills, he would not have the confidence."

"This can't be blamed entirely on the domestic players. All fans should know Chen Tao, right? He was the core of the 2005 Super Platinum Generation, and a talented star who was evenly matched with Messi and David Silva in the 2005 World Youth Championship! There was once a match in China, and a certain leader came to watch the game in person - I won't say which one, so as not to cause the live broadcast room to be blocked - during the match, Chen Tao performed a very imaginative trick of interjecting. As a result, the leader was furious after watching it, thinking that Chen Tao was showing off and not playing football honestly. After the game, he made Chen Tao write a 6,000-word self-criticism."

"Fuck! No way?"

"Shit! It's true!"

"How can this be good?"

"Given the poor environment in China, Gu Ran must not return to China to play football! Otherwise, he will end up like Chen Tao, which is really too uncomfortable."

The live broadcast room was filled with gifts and rewards.

At the same time, after scoring the goal, Gu Ran chopped the wind with one hand and ran around the field happily, stacking buffs while concentrating his mind to examine the emotional bubbles dropped by the Cardiff City players.

It has to be said that playing against strong teams with star players brings good benefits.

After one round, Gu Ran picked up two ball-level skills: Second touch: Fried meatballs +1.

Top dribble: Cruyff turn +1.

In addition, I also picked up a very practical common skill: Five-star Weak Foot +1.

This way, Fried Meatballs is stacked up to +2, Cruyff Turn is stacked up to +2, and Five-Star Inverse Foot is stacked up to +5! There are 4 pickups left for today.

After picking up the items, Gu Ran ran back to his left back position.

The game continues.

Cardiff City, who had conceded a goal at the start of the game, restarted the game.

Cardiff City intensified its attack, while Southampton continued to double-team and strangle Cardiff City players with physical confrontation.

Cardiff City's passing and movement were very fast, with the ball constantly passing on the right and center.

Cardiff City's Peter Whittingham's performance on the wing was very eye-catching, and his running and interspersing were very active.

Southampton's Schneiderlin and Hammond were almost unable to limit Whittingham's organizational connectivity, and Southampton's right-wing defense was frequently in crisis.

Cardiff City was smart and basically did not pass the ball to the left.

The game is in the 7th minute.

Hammond made a mistake in the interception, and the Bluebirds' No. 10 Stephen McPhail received a short pass from Whittingham and kicked the ball directly to the right side of Southampton's penalty area.

No. 8 Michael Chopra received the ball with his back to the basket, and Walker came up to press Chopra.

Chopra held Walker with his back and passed the ball back to No. 39 star Bellamy. He inserted the ball from the back row and shot directly into the goal without stopping! Goalkeeper Davis had a good position and jumped up to block the ball over the crossbar! "Wow!"

Bellamy's kick was like a cold arrow, but fortunately Davis was brave enough.

Cardiff City wins a corner.

The tall players from both teams all stood in the penalty area.

Gu Ran still used man-to-man defense against the 191cm tall "Little Henry" Jay Thomas at the back post.

Whittingham took a corner kick and went straight to Jay Thomas at the back post.

Jay Thomas immediately jumped and headed the ball with great impact.

Gu Ran withstood Jay's impact and jumped synchronously! Gu Ran was half a head shorter than Jay, and his position was not as good as Jay's, but that was not a problem.

It is not necessary to get the ball first to defend against headers, as long as the opponent cannot make a threatening shot, that is enough! Gu Ran strengthened his reasonable collision and header competition, and engaged in a muscle wrestling with Jay in mid-air.

Jay's jumping height and strength were instantly blocked by Gu Ran! Bang! Jay was the first to touch the ball, but under Gu Ran's defense, Jay couldn't exert any strength at all, nor could he hit the ball at the best angle. He just barely touched the bottom edge of the football -

The football flew out of the end line crookedly!

"yeah------"

The saints behind the goal cheered happily.

Jay fell on the grass with a depressed look on his face.

Gu Ran smiled at him, then generously reached out and pulled him up.

Gu Ran smiled and said, "Little Henry, this isn't all you can do, is it?"

Oh shit...Jay is about to explode!

Too crazy! This was a direct provocation to the face! By the time Jay finally figured out what trash talk to use to respond to Gu Ran, Gu Ran had already run away.

The game continues.

In the next nearly twenty minutes, the two sides engaged in fierce passing and strangling duels in the middle and right sides.

The pace of the players on both sides was very fast and the passing of the football was dazzling.

Cardiff maintained a very high rate of ball possession and was almost always in an offensive state.

Southampton was basically in a defensive state, using physical confrontation to consume Cardiff City.

The whole scene looked like Cardiff City was attacking wildly, while Southampton seemed to be very passive.

Southampton also occasionally had two counterattack opportunities in the middle and right sides, but unfortunately Cardiff City's defense line recovered quickly and Southampton's midfield and frontcourt players were unable to form an effective cross-court cooperation.

Although there was no ball on the side that Gu Ran was defending, the close confrontation between Gu Ran and "Little Henry" Jay almost never stopped for a moment.

Jay put all his effort into it, wanting to teach Gu Ran a lesson.

However, Jay, despite trying his best, was unable to break through Gu Ran's close defense.

For more than ten minutes, Jay couldn't get the ball.

Jay was naturally a little anxious. Moreover, although he was a jack-of-all-trades player, the left side of Southampton was not his strong area.

In Cardiff City's tactical arrangement, Jay was supposed to hold off Gu Ran on Southampton's left side when defending, and to move to the familiar center and Southampton's right side when attacking.

Jay is the most critical link in coach Dave Jones' short pass penetration tactics. He is explosive and can get the ball and pass it when the defense line is stretched.

Without Jay, Cardiff City's short pass tactics look beautiful but it is difficult to bear fruit.

This also forced Cardiff City's two forwards to retreat and provide support, which greatly weakened Cardiff City's offensive efficiency.

Therefore, Jay could only sprint and intersperse repeatedly without the ball, trying to get rid of Gu Ran's close defense.

But Gu Ran was always able to keep up with Jay.

No matter how Jay sprinted or tried to get rid of Gu Ran's close pressure, he couldn't shake off.

Stephen McPhail of Cardiff City had many opportunities to make short passes to Jay, but because Gu Ran was too close to Jay, McPhail could only pass the ball to the right side where Southampton was heavily defending.

Cardiff City's passing in the midfield and frontcourt seemed disorganized because of Jay's running around and cutting in randomly.

Not only that, Jay's physical energy was severely depleted due to Gu Ran's continuous physical confrontation. After only 25 minutes in the first half, Jay was already out of breath.

——Jay started in four consecutive games for Cardiff City and played the entire game, so his physical condition was not at full capacity.

Now that Gu Ran was pressing closely against him, Jay's physical disadvantage began to show.

At this time, the fans in the live broadcast room started chatting:

"Southampton is in a very passive position. It's been almost half an hour and Gu Ran has only had one shot. On the other hand, Cardiff City has already had five shots."

"Yes, Southampton's ball possession rate is very low, and Cardiff City's ball possession rate is about 70% to 80%, right?"

"Southampton's right side is full of dangers!"

"Why doesn't Gu Ran attack? It makes me anxious!"

"It has been 24 minutes since I handed in my homework to my wife after Gu Ran scored the first goal. Why hasn't Gu Ran scored yet?"

"Fuck, brother, you're exposed!"

At this time, Maxim, whose name was marked in gold, said: "Don't worry. The two teams are now engaged in a tactical game. Although Southampton didn't have any decent offense in the past 20 minutes, the confrontation between them was still very exciting."

"Fuck! Little Noodle Ball Boss!"

"Master, please explain it in detail! Southampton's possession rate was so low that we couldn't see anything exciting in the game."

Maxim spoke again: "Ball possession rate is actually not important at all. First of all, when a strong team plays against a weak team, the strong team will have a higher ball possession rate. When a weak team plays against a strong team, even if the weak team's core tactics are short pass penetration, or pass control, pass and cut flow, it is impossible for the weak team to have a high ball possession rate."

“A lot of seemingly important data actually only seem important when they are deduced backwards.”

"Because a strong team will inevitably have a high possession rate when playing against a weak team, many football data analysts believe that the team with a high possession rate has a high chance of winning - but in fact, this is a naive conclusion drawn in reverse. How can a strong team not have a high possession rate when playing against a weak team?"

"Barcelona has a higher ball possession rate, right? That's because they are Barcelona."

"Spain has a high possession rate, right? That's because they are Spanish."

"Barcelona or Spain have a high possession rate when playing against most teams in the world, but Barcelona or Spain may not win every time."

"Strong teams will remain strong if they learn from Barcelona or Spain, but weak teams will die without knowing how they died if they learn from Barcelona and Spain without the right lineups but pursuing ball possession - I'm not talking about the Chinese national football team, I'm talking about the shameless Vietnamese team."

"Weak teams should rely on their physical strength, defense, and dribbling. There is no other choice."

"From the perspective of the current strength of the two teams, Cardiff City's overall strength is higher than Southampton's. Cardiff City uses the basic tactic of short passes, which is also a normal operation for a strong team against a weak team. Southampton's basic tactic is defensive counterattack. Any team that mainly plays defensive counterattack will not emphasize ball possession. If a defensive counterattack team has to fight for meaningless ball possession, how can it play defensive counterattack?"

"The longer the ball is in possession, the more attention and energy the team will consume, and the more they need to establish an advantage as quickly as possible."

"So, what really matters is not the time of possession shown in the statistics, but your offensive efficiency when you have the ball."

"Most people pursue the length of time they have possession of the ball, thinking that this is an absolute advantage, but they ignore the offensive efficiency after they have possession of the ball."

"So far in this game, Cardiff City's ball possession rate has probably reached 80%, but Gu Ran locked down Henry Jay, and Cardiff City's offensive chain was broken. Although they had the ball at their feet, their offensive efficiency was extremely low. Cardiff City has only had five decent shots so far."

"On the other hand, Southampton only had 3 counterattacks and 1 shot, which is a terrible statistic, but Gu Ran scored with 1 shot! This is the real efficiency of ball possession and attack."

Maxim said, "I predict that the really interesting part will be the second half, but we can't rule out the possibility that Gu Ran will suddenly show his nerves. After all, Gu Ran is a person who is full of unexpected surprises."

"Wow! Little Noodle Boss's analysis makes a lot of sense."

"Been taught a lesson!"

"Listen to the boss's words, just like listening to the boss's words!"

"Although it makes sense, I still want to see Gu Ran score a goal!"

"Only if Southampton scores a goal will we have a chance to win Gu Ran's autographed jersey in the lottery!"

"Gu Ran! Goal! Goal! Goal!"

The entire live broadcast room was filled with comments like “One more”.

At this moment, the situation on the field suddenly changed!

Cardiff City's No. 10 Stephen McPhail made a beautiful through ball in the middle. Chopra quickly shook off Walton who was marking him, received the ball with his back to the goal and passed it to the right side of the penalty area. Bellamy stopped the ball perfectly under the double-teaming of two defenders, and at the same time pulled the ball sideways, creating a shooting space and quickly kicked the ball into the far corner! It must be said that this shot was so beautiful!

Goalkeeper Davis was standing a little off-center, so he could only hastily dive sideways to save the ball with one hand.

Davis's fingers stretched to the limit but didn't touch the ball! The Saints fans behind the goal were so nervous! The football...hit the left post! It bounced to the small penalty area on the left!

Bellamy was unlucky! Little Henry Jay rushed up at full speed and kicked the ball -

However, Gu Ran beside him rushed faster than him! Gu Ran blocked Jay's strong body and pulled the ball back with his toes before Jay could make a follow-up shot! Gu Ran pulled the ball to the limit!

Jay missed the ball! "Yeah!!!!" Saints fans cheered wildly! This wonderful steal and dribble was really explosive! Gu Ran turned around quickly and prepared to counterattack with the ball! Jay angrily grabbed Gu Ran's arm to prevent him from speeding up! No. 11 Chris Booker came over like the wind -

Danger!!! (End of this chapter)